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2 stars
Sometimes I wonder if Richard Kelly really wants people to understand his movies. They can be so hard to follow, but this writer/director has much on his mind, particularly about religion, government and the human condition. In his latest film, The Box, Kelly shows a bit more restraint than he did on Southland Tales, but never sacrifices his love of the peculiar and mysterious.
In the world of The Box, a man named Arlington Steward (Frank Langella) appears on people’s doorsteps carrying a box with a button and a frightening proposition: Press the button, a person you don’t know dies and you are rewarded with one million dollars in cash. Don’t press the button and Steward goes away forever, only leaving a $100 bill for your time.
Cameron Diaz plays a private high school English teacher who is about to lose the tuition benefit that makes it possible for her son to attend the prestigious school. Her husband (James Marsden), is a NASA engineer who was recently rejected for astronaut training. Early on, the movie makes it clear that this couple is living outside of its means and financial troubles are imminent. Try to guess what they do when the box is placed on their kitchen table.
In many ways, this movie is reminiscent of Kelly’s last two films, Donnie Darko and Southland Tales. Like Donnie Darko, The Box veers toward the strange and asks twice as many questions as it answers. Odd characters appear in the middle of the road, English teachers unknowingly explain all the film’s symbolism and individuals are constantly being tested to demonstrate the abilities of the entire human race.
The Box isn’t as bright, cheeky or ambitious as Southland Tales, but it comes from the same school of dystopian thought in a much more concise package.
In fact, it’s as if Kelly is making the same movie over and over again, for many of the same people. He has matured along with his audience: As a result, The Box isn’t going to become a cult classic among teenagers the way Donnie Darko was. But for people who grew up on Darko and want more of the same, The Box might be that cultural nugget worth biting into.
Kelly’s eagerness to share his worldview is a bit cumbersome, but he still tells an interesting story. The Box uses beautiful imagery and well-timed suspense to keep the audience captivated, practically forcing people to hear what Kelly has to say. In a few instances, Kelly throws his viewers a bone, using a line or two of dialogue to illustrate the essence of his ideas.
Still, Kelly demands his viewers to think about his film before, during and after they leave the theater. The problem is that not many people are willing to do that, especially when they realize how cynical Kelly’s ideas are. His movies might be arguing the same point, but the outcomes he provides keep getting worse. There’s always some sense of hope at the end of Kelly’s films, but it’s never been as faint as in The Box.
More than anything, Kelly demonstrates resentment for the baby boomer generation. In Southland Tales and The Box, the audience is meant to see that boomers have made choices that show little more than selfishness, materialism and shallow convictions. Then as boomers begin to die off, everyone else will be left to deal with the consequences of their choices.
During The Box, Kelly uses advancements in science and technology to warn people of the dangers that come with satisfying one’s curiosity. The film never quite sates that curiosity, which is why Kelly is notorious for ending films with so many unanswered questions.
Kelly doesn’t offer any advice on how to cope with the course society has taken because he’s incapable of doing so. For this filmmaker, the world is already doomed and his generation is the only one who can see this.
Kelly’s movies never feature post-Generation Xers because he’s lost touch with today’s youth. Maybe he doesn’t think much of Millennials, or maybe he doesn’t think there’s anything we can do at this point. Either way, he makes it perfectly clear that somehow Gen X is the victim of the past’s mistakes, and all we can do is try to find salvation through faith.
Kelly will have a hard time convincing Millennials and optimists of his point of view, so he’s left to rely on the cast’s star power to carry this film. There’s no doubt that this movie is thought-provoking and unique (even though it’s based on a short story from the ’70s), but in the end it’s just too scornful to resonate with today’s audience.
Are you a fan of Donnie Darko, or just of metaphysical mind-benders in general? The Box is now playing in theaters nationwide. Go to www.loyolaphoenix.com to see more pictures from the movie.
8 comments
The test ends and the stranger retrieves the box and leaves the last couple their hundred dollars. He then returns to the couple with the child, and begins to cry. The Mother asks why, and the alien says no one to this point has ever shown him love, ONLY disgust because of his looks. The alien admits that even they have much to learn about the human race and they were in error with their own test. He hugs the mother and turns to leave and vanishes into water.
The parent hear their child calling for them. They answer him and he hears them. The end!
I really Hope this guy was just picked on as a teenager by society and the only form of revenge this loser can take is to make people feel like there is no hope in life just like he has no hope of making a movie that makes sense from the start to the end!!!!
This blog was from a 26 year old, white male, living in Northwest CT